


Childhood

by Trixie_Baggins



Series: Childhood [1]
Category: Now You See Me (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3949543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixie_Baggins/pseuds/Trixie_Baggins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack never had a childhood.  Until they gave him one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childhood

Jack never really got a childhood. His family lived in a crummy apartment building in LA. The thing he remembers best about his dad were his fists. Or the fact that he spent most of the days passed out drunk on their couch. His mom used drugs in order to escape it all and, frankly, he didn't blame her. They lived on welfare money, supplemented by the after-school job Jack had had since his freshman year in highschool. Had it not been for his younger sister, Jack would've been long gone, but she needed someone to look out for her. To protect her. When she was fifteen, she was accepted into an elite boarding/art school in France. She left and so did he. That was the last time he ever saw Jenna.

* * *

At seventeen years old, Jack Wilder was on the streets by himself. No one to turn to, and even if he had someone, no one to trust. The first time he stole was out of necessity. He'd been on his own for around seven days and he hadn't eaten for four of them. It was an outside concert. Everyone there was so into music, except for one. They were dancing and bumping into each other, it was almost too easy. Just 'accidentally' bump into someone, grab what he needed and get out. In under 5 minutes he had his next meal.

* * *

The first time he saw J Daniel Atlas the older male was performing on one of the Hollywood blocks. The Wilder had been drawn by the marks and stayed for the magic. He had been so captivated that he forgot why he was there, but that didn't matter. Jack took the three dollars he had left and bought a pack of playing cards. From that date he would practice every day, nearly all day, in order to perfect his routine. The first thing that had drawn Jack to magic was the magic itself, but later he realized that the money wasn't bad either. He'd like to say that all of the money he earned from that day on was legitimate, but that was not the case.

* * *

When he got his card he went more out of curiosity than anything else. When no one other than J Daniel Atlas walked through the door he was a little lost for what to say. 'Hey man, I'm a huge fan' he finally managed because how could he explain that it was seeing Daniel performing that saved his life. That stopped the spiral that would've left in prison or worse, dead.

* * *

The other three Horseman realized that Jack was different than them rather quickly. They were rehearsing one of their performances, the one where Jack and Merritt high-fived. When he went into do it, Jack flinched. It triggered memories of his father and he spent the next hour in the corner having a mini panic attack. Henley went and sat down next to him and stroked his hair, like a mother should do, and told him everything was going to be okay. That they were his family now and that they weren't going to leave him. Ever.

* * *

Over the year they spent together the other three noticed how much more extroverted Jack became around them. On the rare occasion he would offer a smile – a real one – and they all slept a little bit easier knowing just how elastic their youngest was. It was the hardest job; staying behind cleaning up, and only one person could do it. Daniel was the one who asked him to do it and, really, how could Jack say no? Atlas had saved his life and he would be forever in his debt. When the FBI showed up, Jack was only halfway through; they weren't supposed to be there yet and he had to change the plan on the fly.

* * *

The car was engulfed in flames. Jack Wilder, for all points and purposes was dead. Somewhere, in France, an eighteen year old girl was mourning the only person she'd been able to trust. And somewhere in the United States three people were trusting him to pull off the near impossible. 'I believe in you' Atlas had said before they'd left and those were the words that stayed with Jack throughout his entire mission. Those where the words that made the impossible possible.

* * *

It was by a carousel. Jack had always loved carousels, but had never gotten to go on one. His family never did anything like that, nor did they have any extra money in order to splurge. Any money left over after the booze and the drugs went to food or rent. Dylan watched him and he knew that at twenty years old, Jack was probably the most grown up of them all.

* * *

The Four, well now five, Horsemen took the next year off. During that time they connected more as a group and found new tricks that they would like to do when they started their next tour. And they took Jack to every place that a kid deserved to go. The fridge in their apartment was covered with them at Disney World; them at a water park; them at an amusement park; them at just a regular park. It lightened all of their hearts to see the weight on Jack's back so lifted.

* * *

Until he had met up with J Daniel, Henley and Merritt, Jack had never lived under a non-leaky roof. That apartment (though severely lacking in standards by the other three) had been the nicest place he'd ever lived. When Dylan took them to live in the small mansion he'd inherited from his father, Jack had spent most of it hiding in a closet. For someone like him, kindness was unheard of, and he had trouble accepting it. It took nearly two hours for Dylan to explain that this place was to be Jack's home too now and almost a full month before he became comfortable enough to walk freely about.

* * *

Since they reconnected, Daniel and Henley had become a thing again. It seemed like this time they would actually make it; Daniel had even proposed and everything. For seven months everything seemed to pass so happily; so peaceful. Until the day. Henley had made an accusation about Danny cheating on her and he vehemently denied everything. They fought and Jack had the misfortune of walking in on the middle of it. When Henley stormed out, slamming the door behind her, it triggered something. Dylan found him huddled in the corner of the garden shed shaking. He sat with Jack until it passed. Didn't say anything, just sat.

* * *

Over the years, Jack got better. When he was 21 the sound of glass shattering no longer made him cringe. At age 23, he was okay with people touching his shoulder unannounced. And just before his 25th birthday, Henley and Danny had another fight and he stayed in the same room without having a panic attack. Jack grew up without parents and he never got a childhood, but then he had Dylan and Henley to be his parental figures and they gave him the childhood he never had.


End file.
